Chapter 73 Fire and Medicine

Night, hour of Hai.

Everyone in the clinic was fast asleep, except for a beam of light in the main hall.

The flame of the oil-slag lamp flickered above the counter, illuminating only a small area of ​​light.

Chen Ji stood behind the mahogany counter with his sleeves rolled up, his hair tied up on top of his head with a wooden hairpin, concentrating on grinding each piece of charcoal into powder, then mixing it with the jar of strong Shaodaozi liquor he had bought and spreading it on the counter.

He pushed the oil-residue lamp a little further away and waited quietly for the alcohol, hydride and oxide to evaporate.

While waiting for the vapor to evaporate, he fanned himself gently and looked up at the beams.

There was a small spider on the beam slowly weaving a web. A fly hit the web and struggled hard. The spider crawled towards the fly, but did not notice that there was a gecko waiting at the edge of its web.

At this moment, a voice came from behind him: "Why is there such a strong smell of alcohol in the room? Have you been drinking?"

Chen Ji stood up and turned around, looking at the old man Yao who suddenly appeared, and said with a smile: "Master, you are still awake?"

Old man Yao had a blank expression on his face: "My apprentice is going to leave for another place, how can I sleep well?"

"Did you get the result from your fortune telling?"

Old man Yao sneered: "You are cooking for everyone and you look so sad. I can guess it even without fortune telling. Not only can I tell fortunes, I can also use my brain."

"Oh……"

Old Man Yao stood opposite him, casually looking at the charcoal powder on the counter: "Tell me, where are you going?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I'm not leaving. You guessed wrong this time."

Old man Yao was stunned for a moment. He took out six copper coins from his sleeve and threw them on the counter. He said while interpreting the hexagram, "Hey, you really haven't left... Why don't you leave?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "God created me to be in danger and live in the face of death. Isn't this what you predicted for me? I am not suitable for running away."

"Fit for death? The twelve zodiac signs of the Secret Service of the Ning Dynasty in the south are monitoring you, and Si Cao of the Military Intelligence Department of the Jing Dynasty in the north wants to kill you. Why are you staying here if you don't leave?"

Chen Ji did not respond. He just looked up at the spider and gecko on the beam again, wanting to see if the gecko had eaten the spider.

Old Man Yao followed his gaze and asked, "So this time, are you the spider or the gecko? Or are you the fly that has fallen into the spider web?"

Chen Ji did not answer, but gathered the dried charcoal powder and picked up the copper scale to weigh it.

He took out the sulfur, saltpeter and sugar that had been purified and prepared earlier, mixed them evenly together and poured them into a bamboo tube, then mixed in a small amount of iron sheets.

At this time, the dark cloud came in through the cracks in the window. In this solemn atmosphere, it first looked at Old Man Yao, then at the traces, and meowed, "Just as you guessed, the Golden Pig has already found clues from the craftsmanship."

Chen Ji didn't look up. He carefully sealed the bamboo tube, leaving behind a gunpowder wick made of thin paper and gunpowder.

Until this moment, Chen Ji put the bamboo tube on the counter, looked up and replied with a smile: "Master, I am not a moth, nor a spider, nor a gecko."

He looked at the oil-slag lamp on the edge of the counter: "I am the fire."

A fire that does not belong to this era.

Chen Ji took out a piece of cloth, wrapped the three bamboo tubes in it, and tied them to his back.

He waved to the dark clouds, turned around and was about to go out.

Old Man Yao stared at him for a long time: "How much ice flow is left in your body? How many ginsengs can it absorb?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Six."

Old Man Yao walked to the medicine cabinet and opened the drawer: "Convert all the ice flow first."

Chen Ji's eyes lit up. It turned out that the master had bought ten ginsengs in the morning and wanted to keep them for him: "Thank you, Master."

"One ginseng root costs thirty taels of silver, or three golden melon seeds."

Chen Ji's expression froze: "I thought you were going to send me off."

Old Man Yao sneered: "Give it to you? I can't live like this anymore?"

"Okay, I'll only exchange five." Chen Ji counted out twelve gold melon seeds from his sleeve and placed them on the counter, and then took out thirty taels of silver from the apprentice's dormitory...

At this time, only sixty-three taels of silver were left of his hard-earned fortune.

"Master, I'm leaving now," Chen Ji picked up five ginsengs and transformed them into transparent crystal beads, which he fed to Wu Yun one by one.

He walked into the backyard with his bag on his back, climbed onto the roof, and blended into the night.

Next to the apricot tree, Old Man Yao looked in the direction he left and casually threw down six copper coins: "Very bad luck."

The crow cackles.

Old Man Yao said impatiently: "You choose the road yourself, so go on your own... If you want to go, just take a look, I won't stop you."

……

……

At night on Zhenghe Street, there was a charcoal cart pulled by two oxen, slowly heading towards the East Market.

Winter was approaching, and firewood and charcoal became necessities. For example, the capital city distributed as many as 720,000 pieces of firewood and charcoal to officials every year.

Red basket charcoal was used in the imperial palace, officials praised Xishan silver silk charcoal, wealthy families burned tung charcoal, and ordinary people used black charcoal. Without charcoal, winter would be particularly difficult.

This was the best time for charcoal merchants. The charcoal was burned in the mountains and forests, transported to the East Market in Luocheng by canal, and then sold to every household from the East Market. There was an endless stream of cars coming and going every day.

The charcoal cart is different from an ordinary ox cart in that it is sealed on all four sides but open on the top.

The charcoal seller was driving his ox cart, humming a little tune along the way, and he didn't notice at all that there was a cat squatting on someone's shoulder in the shadows on the side of the road, waiting for him to pass by slowly.

When the charcoal cart passed by the shadow, Chen Ji took two quick steps and easily flipped into the cart bed without making any sound.

The charcoal dealer noticed the body of the car shaking slightly and looked back at the cobblestone road in confusion, thinking that he had run over a small stone.

Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the wheels, he continued to hum his little tune: "Standing on the steps, there are more people, and the marriage is destined to come. Call out for guests, light the lamp and come upstairs, it's late at night and we must make do with the east road..."

Chen Ji recognized that this was a little erotic song that came out of Red Dress Alley… These dealers made money during the day and spent their money in brothels at night, either gambling or whoring, and there was never any money left.

He smiled, embraced the dark cloud, nestled in the dirty charcoal cart, closed his eyes, and let the charcoal cart take him to the Red Lane in the East Market.

The closer he got to East Market, the calmer Chen Ji felt. He touched the dagger in his sleeve again and slowly closed his eyes.

Return to the battlefield in the dream.

"Brother Feng Huai, what is the name of the move you just made where you turned your sword with your body?"

"The headquarters."

"Brother Feng Huai, what is the name of the move you used just now when you pressed your blade against my blade and forced me to abandon my sword?"

"spark."

"Brother Feng Huai, what was that move you used to chop the back of my knife? It hurt my wrist a lot, but it didn't seem to be of any use."

Feng Huai smiled shyly and said, "That move is called Wrong Gold. It should have cut your sword in half with one strike. It's because your sword is too good that it can't be cut."

Every movement of the sword, every step forward and backward of the swordsman Feng Huai, is as exquisite and impeccable as art.

The opponent was like a heavy hammer, hitting the steel billet hard and forging it into shape. Chen Ji used death again and again to exchange for one skill after another.

Chen Ji had never fought with outsiders with a knife before, so he didn't know if his skills were good enough. He could only practice continuously so that he could slowly approach Feng Huai's skills and then surpass them.

In the beginning, Chen Ji would die twenty to thirty times in an hour, but now, he only dies three or four times in an hour.

At the beginning, he was full of flaws, but now, both sides have been countering each other's moves, and often within a hundred moves, neither side can find the other's flaw.

Those sword skills, as if they had been carved into his bones tens of thousands of years ago, into intricate and exquisite totems, are gradually being awakened.

Chen Ji stood up again: "Come again."

On the boulder, Xuanyuan was sitting cross-legged in the same black royal robe, but the constellations embroidered with gold thread had changed, leaving only the Purple Palace.

Xuanyuan asked, "You seem to be in a hurry?"

Chen Ji said: "It's really a rush."

Xuanyuan wondered, "Is there someone outside who wants to kill you?"

Chen Ji responded calmly: "No, it's someone I want to kill."

Xuanyuan laughed out loud: "No wonder you made faster progress today than yesterday. Now is the time for you to practice swordsmanship! The sword is the courage of all weapons. If you don't want to kill people, you can't practice swordsmanship well! But I suggest you stop and take a rest before continuing to study. Being exhausted will only make you restless and irritable, which is of no help."

Chen Ji seemed to be thinking about something, and then he sat cross-legged on the ground decisively: "Brother Feng Huai, you should sit down and rest for a while."

Feng Huai put away his sword and sat down, his posture as straight as an apprentice.

The three of them sat on the ground on top of a green hill, with clouds rolling and flowing around them. It was as if they were in a fairyland, and an immortal was touching their heads and granting them immortality.

Chen Ji said with emotion: "Brother Feng Huai, your swordsmanship is really good."

Feng Huai was wearing light armor, and looked to be about twenty years old. He was handsome and a little immature. Just by looking at his appearance, you would never guess that he was an expert with a knife.

When he heard Chen Ji praising him, he smiled even more shyly: "It's all because of your good teaching. When we were practicing swords with you, we suffered a lot."

Chen Ji was stunned: "...I taught you? Then why do I feel that you are so excited to chop me?"

Feng Huai hesitated for a moment: "Who wouldn't be excited?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "...That makes sense. Be polite to me when you are not practicing sword skills."

Feng Huai quickly responded: "Understood!"

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Xuanyuan, if I die tonight, can you come back to the world through my body?"

Xuanyuan stared at Chen Ji: "Okay."

"If you really come back to this world, can you help me kill someone?"

Xuanyuan sneered and said, "Kill it yourself."

"Okay." Chen Ji turned his head and looked at Xuanyuan who was looking down at him from the boulder: "Um... I want to discuss whether I can borrow the 'Whale' tonight?"

"No," Xuanyuan shook his head.

"But I have to kill someone tonight. Without the 'Whale', the other knives are not very useful."

Xuanyuan sneered, "Will the enemy negotiate with you? Can everything you encounter be negotiated? I said that being smart is a good thing, but there are always mountains in this world that you can't get around. If you want to take away the 'whale', you must first defeat Feng Huai."

"understood."

At this time, Chen Ji heard the dark cloud meowing softly beside his ear. He stood up with his sword and looked at Xuanyuan: "There are still many things to do tonight. If everything goes well, see you tomorrow."

Xuanyuan was silent for a moment: "See you tomorrow."

Chen Ji opened his eyes in the cart. The charcoal cart had slowly stopped outside Hongyi Lane. The driver was humming a little erotic tune and walking happily towards Hongyi Lane.

He and Wuyun quietly poked their heads out of the carriage, but were surprised to see a familiar carriage stopped beside them.

The next moment, the prince's voice was heard: "It would be great to borrow the road from the clinic. Chen Ji has already set up the ladder... Now it's ready. I've got my robes torn when I get it out from the back garden!"

Princess Baili's voice followed closely behind: "I just don't want to leave the clinic, okay?"

"Okay, okay..."

Chen Ji saw the two men jumping off the carriage and walking towards Red Lane. He wanted to stop them and tell them that it was dangerous here tonight, but how could he explain why he was here?

Seeing the prince and Princess Baili disappear in Hongyi Lane, Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, reached out to take some charcoal powder from the truck bed and rubbed it on his face.

"Come on, dark cloud, let's climb up to the roof together."

(End of this chapter)